The Eden Project

The Eden Project wiki "is one of the UK's top gardens and conservation tourist attractions located in Cornwall. A living theatre of plants and people, the Eden Project is wholly owned by the Eden Trust, an educational charity."

"It was the brainchild of scientists Philip McMillan Browse, Peter Thoday and Tim Smit, who were working on the restoration of the lost gardens of Heligan in Cornwall...

"Against the odds and without a formal board or bureaucratic committees, the original triumvirate and a dedicated team secured a grant from Britain's Millennium Commission in October 1998 and were on their way."

"The geodesic dome first proposed by the visionary poet and inventor Buckminster Fuller. He coined the phrase "spaceship earth" and that's the feeling you get at Eden, our fragile spaceship."

"Eden Project Limited is managed by a Board of Executive and Non-Executive Directors who remain ultimately responsible to the Eden Trust, a UK Registered Charity (number 1093070). On the executive side, Tim Smit is the Chief Executive and heads up the board. Gaynor Coley is Managing Director, Tony Kendle is Foundation Director and Peter Cox is Finance Director. Ken Hill is the Chairman of the Board, and the non-executive directors are Richard Eyre, Peter Hardaker, Julie Hill, Dr. Alan Stanhope and Cullum McAlpine." Geoffrey Wilkinson


 * Sir Ronnie Hampel (2006), chairman of Trustees

Trustees
Accessed April 2009:


 * Simon Robertson
 * Alan Livingston
 * Sir John Rose
 * Anthony Salz
 * Lucy Parker

Responsible mining
"Since March 2002, Eden has been in partnership with mining industry leader Rio Tinto. We have been working together to improve the understanding of both the role the minerals industry plays, and what constitutes good practice and responsible mining. Through the partnership, we have successfully launched two initiatives to drive better performance by the mining industry: one on post-mining regeneration and the other on materials stewardship."

Kosovo Peace Garden
"In 2008 the planting of nearly 2,000 trees and shrubs in a park in Kosovo marked a symbolic moment in the healing of a community and the strengthening of ties with the UK.

"The Eden Project worked closely with the charity Manchester Aid to Kosovo (MaK) and local groups to create the Manchester Peace Park in Podujevo, a town still recovering from the conflict of a decade ago...

"Pam Dawes, of MaK, said: “We are on course to complete the Peace Park ten years after the liberation of Kosovo in 1999. The Eden Project’s vision and practical support have got us to this exciting stage. It has been excellent to work with creative staff and horticulturalists and as the costs are being met through Manchester musicians performing at the Eden Sessions, this is a true collaboration, a real success story."

Other

 * Kalahari Garden Project
 * Post-Mining Alliance
 * Plant Talk
 * New Ground project
 * Sexy Green Car Show
 * G8 Concert (African Singers hosted)

Criticisms

 * "Eden Project - Corporate Con", Globalize Resistance, December 27, 2007.

Contact

 * Web: http://www.edenproject.com

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Geoffrey Hawtin
 * Ghillean Prance
 * Hylton M. Philipson
 * Fred Pearce (publishes through Eden Project Books)
 * David Meneer is Marketing Director and George Elworthy